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Rating: 
Summary: The title promises more than the book delivers.
Review: Brown paints engaging and detailed pictures of St. John and Kim Philby. The chapters on St. John are particularly interesting. To judge by Brown's book, the elder Philby led a more colorful, though less notorious life than his son Kim. Brown ultimately fails to support his charge of treason against St. John Philby. The charge, implicit in the book's title, is never really followed through in the text. St. John, as described by Brown, was an active critic of British policy in Arabia, a gadfly, and ultimately an embittered nuisance. This is not the same as being a traitor, however. The chapters on Kim contain no new blockbusters, though Brown draws his character deftly. Ultimately more interesting than Kim Philby the man, though, is Kim Philby the phenomenon. Kim Philby continues to exert a fascination which extends far beyond his actual historical impact. His betrayal, and that of Burgess, MacLean, et al, seem to stand as emblematic of the decay of the English upper classes in the Post WWI period. While Brown does an admirable job painting his portrait of the man, he doesn't dwell on the question of why we still care about this brilliant, vain, aristocratic traitor.
Rating: 
Summary: Philby - Anti-Hero of 20th Century Ideological Wars
Review: I think I can say without exaggeration, this is possibly the most important book of the 20th Century to date, which I have just had the good fortune to read within the last 6 months or so of that century. It illuminates and supplies all the linkages between the titanic struggles for the Middle East among the Great Powers of the Nineteenth Century, and the present hellish landscape that is their legacy. Then it goes on to meticulously study the character of Kim Philby, possibly the most important man of the century and certainly the one who embodies most all the contradictions and ambiguity of it. In the end nobody could penetrate this man's psyche, not the British and Americans whom he betrayed, nor the Russians whom he supposedly served. He remained a mystery wrapped inside an enigma to the end. The book causes one to ponder, how many of the great events of this century, turned on this one man? I can see why Graham Greene was so fond of him, because he is the character Graham Greene was trying to perfect in all his novels...
Rating:
Summary: Exhaustive and Intriguing, albeit with a political bent
Review: The research was top rate; the writing was superb; the factual underpinnings for everything were uncontravertible, and the subject was fascinating. That said, there exists a political bent here that attempts to skew the reader to have a sense of sympathy for Philby. Skip it, Philby was a treacherous lowlife. Clearly Philby had a communist belief system, that's not in question. The real issue of course is, should your ideological belief system justify treasonous acts? In other words, Philby was placed in a position of trust by the British Government. Does the fact that he had the heart of a communist justify the actions he took on behalf of the Soviets? No. In fact, as demonstrated later in his life, which really isn't explored as much as it should have been, Philby clearly become disenchanted with the communist manifesto. The bottom line, however, is that this is a great read, well done
Rating:
Summary: Exhaustive and Intriguing, albeit with a political bent
Review: The research was top rate; the writing was superb; the factual underpinnings for everything were uncontravertible, and the subject was fascinating. That said, there exists a political bent here that attempts to skew the reader to have a sense of sympathy for Philby. Skip it, Philby was a treacherous lowlife. Clearly Philby had a communist belief system, that's not in question. The real issue of course is, should your ideological belief system justify treasonous acts? In other words, Philby was placed in a position of trust by the British Government. Does the fact that he had the heart of a communist justify the actions he took on behalf of the Soviets? No. In fact, as demonstrated later in his life, which really isn't explored as much as it should have been, Philby clearly become disenchanted with the communist manifesto. The bottom line, however, is that this is a great read, well done
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